


Painting Adonis

by chewysugar



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Banter, Boners, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Nudity, Painting, Portraits, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 03:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16109408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chewysugar/pseuds/chewysugar
Summary: There could be a million paintings of Ezio, but none capture him the way that Leonardo sees him.





	Painting Adonis

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled with the title for a while. Hopefully it's good.

“Leonardo?”

“Hm?”

“Be honest with me. If I shift my legs like this, what happens to my balls?”

Leonardo looked up from his easel, and matched the smirk on Ezio’s face. The question proved rhetorical; Leonardo knew as much because Ezio had a habit of trying to provoke him every time they had one of these sessions.

But that didn’t mean that the artist wouldn’t rise to his subject’s bait.

“I’m afraid it causes a rather disturbing effect on both size and shape. You don’t want that captured for posterity, do you? Especially when there’s hardly a thing wrong with your balls as it is.”

Ezio laughed—that wild, lustful laugh that masked his tragedy. Leonardo had, in moments of spare free time, sketched that laugh. He must have hundreds of charcoal copies in various, disorganized folios around his study.

While he enjoyed sketching and painting his close friend nude, he also took pride in being able to capture the more subtle points of Ezio’s face and body.

“Number of times I’ve been kneed in the groin, I’m amazed I even have genitals anymore.” Ezio sighed. Another subtle shift on the couch. The various blankets and pillows around him ruffled at the realignment of his weight.

“You’re magnificent,” Leonardo said. It hadn’t been meant as a flirtation at all. He spoke with the same impassive honesty he’d have used when spotting an error in one of his many inventions. But it still had a rather becoming effect on Ezio's already broad smile.

“Ha! Keep up that talk and you’ll have a sizable adjustment to make on this portrait.”

Leonardo grinned softly, and returned his attention to the canvas. Weeks had transpired since he’d started this piece. The background looked nothing like his studio. It was a blur of shadows and stonework—a sort of cocoon around the central subject, lounging on nothing at all and wearing even less. He'd done all the outlining on the first day of their sitting. What had followed were weeks of finding the right colors, and making touch-ups.

Ezio had initiated the nudity, and Leonardo would have to have been utterly daft to refuse. Because, again, Ezio truly was magnificent: all steely, sinewy body and finely chiseled muscle. And yes, as Leonardo had often said to keep Ezio’s ego thusly stroked, he possessed an undeniably impressive piece of manly equipment.

“Trust me, my friend," Leonardo had said, "I would know from impressive specimens. I’ve seen many in my time.” And again that bright laughter had chased all the stoic seriousness from Ezio’s face.

It wasn’t the bareness. Not this time. Truth be told, Leonardo’s pencil had made quick work of Ezio’s assets—quick enough that Ezio would likely have taken offense. No, this time, for this remarkable man, Leonardo’s deft hands and unsurpassable skill had focused on the subtle touches. Every scar had been laid to the canvas with care and bitter reminiscence. Leonardo had healed many of those wounds, and his hands, skilled and experienced as they were, still shook when he etched every near miss.

Ezio’s face, though, proved truly captivating. The hundreds and hundreds of sketches Leonardo had done of it were a testament to the power it had on his imagination. He also delayed the completion stages of the portrait due to his dissatisfaction with almost every expression he’d tried to capture.

But he couldn’t have kept it off much longer. Not that Ezio was loathe to complain about the time it took to complete the painting. He’d have walked around the streets of Florence without a stitch on if he could get away with it. Leonardo supposed that Ezio would have been far more at home in the times of Ancient Rome, when the natural state of things proved more revered, then now, when the shadow of the Church blanketed all that was worth living for. Still, he couldn’t keep Ezio forever, no matter how much he wanted to.

He’d settled for focusing on the eyes. True, the image in the canvas wore a slight smile, the way Ezio tended to do when at rest. And that scar, the run that slashed through the side of his lips, had been among the hardest for Leonardo to sketch.

But Leonardo had done everything in his ability to capture the light and storm in Ezio’s hazel eyes. Now, after all this time, he stood back, and set his paint and palette down.

Ezio stirred. He hadn’t been asleep; he would never do anything so disrespectful. “Finished?”

Leonardo nodded. “Yes. Although I doubt it captures your beauty as thoroughly as I’d have wished.” Pretty words, to be sure, but Leonardo meant them.

Still brazenly naked, Ezio got to his feet. He padded across the floor, and stepped around Leonardo. When his eyes fell on the canvas, he breathed a stilted gasp. Leonardo's face went pink with embarrassment. 

“It’s...” Ezio stretch a finger forth, and then stilled. The paint was, after all, still quite wet against the canvas.

At once, Leonardo felt doubts attack him like a conflagration of crows. He wanted to make excuses, to cover up all the mistakes with his words. It mattered a great deal to him that Ezio was pleased with his work. Out of everyone he'd ever done a painting for, Ezio mattered to him dearly.

“Ah, _caro._ ” He placed a hand on Leonardo’s shoulder. “How did you do it, hm?”

“With a lot of willpower.”

“I’m serious.” His gaze scanned the portrait. “I mean, my cock looks as grand as I’d hoped. But my face...” He sighed once more. “You’re a master.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Leonardo teased. “I still expect you to pay with everything you have.”

“Oh, so it’s payment that you want, is it? What? Did the chance to paint my nude body not suffice?”

“It was only a jest, Ezio.” Leonardo, caught between wanting to step away and get closer to his dear friend, satisfied himself by looking at his feet.

To his complete astonishment, Ezio tipped Leonardo’s chin up with one strong, dexterous finger. He stared into those brilliant hazel eyes, and was rendered momentarily without air or speech.

“I want to repay you,” he said. “You out of anyone I can’t stand to be indebted to. So let me give you what you’re owed.”

Strong hands took Leonardo by the shoulders. Ezio kissed him then, a lingering kiss that made Leonardo’s heart race. Ezio tasted salty-sweet , like a potent wine. And like wine, the heat of lips and the taste of Ezio’s tongue made Leonardo’s head swim. They were both pressed so close by this point that Leonardo could feel the length of Ezio’s cock harden against him.

He moaned. Ezio laughed, and the kiss was broken.

Leonardo swayed. Then, finding his way through the eclipse of desire he said, “That was quite a repayment.”

“Well, with the state you’ve left me in I might have to get you to paint another portrait.”

Leonardo smirked. “You think this is the only thing of you I’ve drawn?”

Ezio’s eyebrows arched. “You have more?”

“Plenty.” Boldly, he traced a finger down Ezio’s chest. “What say I start repaying you for those right this very moment?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
